Baylor Baseball Crushes Oral Roberts in Series Opener, 11-2

WACO, Texas – Baylor baseball (2-7) ended its four-game losing streak and picked up its second win of the season with an 11-2 defeat of Oral Roberts (4-5) Friday night at Baylor Ballpark.

In the victory, Baylor’s offense exploded for 11 runs and finished the contest with a season-high 15 hits. The Bears were 6-for-11 with runners in scoring position and five players had multi-hit performances: Hunter Teplanszky (Jr.), Will Pendergrass (RJr.), Daniel Altman (Sr.), Cortlan Castle (Jr.) and Caleb Bergman (So.).

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Baylor’s offense exploded for 11 runs and a season-high 15 hits.

“I don’t think it’s been close [this was our most complete game of the year so far],” head coach Mitch Thompson said after the win. “I think things went our way. We had to battle and all of the sudden, it [blew up] and it opened up – it was a fun ballgame.”

Prior to the series opener Friday, Thompson made some defensive changes, moving Teplanszky to shortstop to replace Tyriq Kemp (Jr.) and Mason Greer (Sr.) to third base for Teplanszky.

“I’ve played shortstop my whole life, so it felt great to get back out there,” Teplanszky said. “It feels like home.”

But Baylor’s early-season defensive struggles continued in the second inning when Greer, in his first opportunity at the hot corner this season, sailed a throw to first base on a dribbler down the third base line. Later in the frame, Mason Marriott (Jr.) walked ORU’s left fielder Alex Rodgers (Sr.) with the bases loaded to give the Golden Eagles a 1-0 lead.

In the third, Oral Roberts plated another run off Marriott with a two-out RBI double from center fielder Kyle Booker (Jr.) to extend its lead to 2-0, but it was the final time the Golden Eagles would score in the contest.

After a rough outing last weekend against No. 23 Indiana, Marriott bounced back on Friday with an excellent start. The junior righty struck out eight, walked three and allowed four hits and one earned run across 5.2 innings tossed.

“Mason sometimes may even be fighting his past [when he’s on the mound],” Thompson said. “There always seemed to be one inning last year that got to him and he’d give up a big one. It was fun to see him get out of it [tonight] and it was fun to see him take it back out there and go into the fourth, fifth and sixth [innings]. … I’m real proud of Mason’s effort.”

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Hunter Teplanszky (Jr.) made his first start of the season at shortstop and went 3-for-5 with three RBIs in the victory.

Castle got the lineup going in the bottom of the third with a sharp single into left field. Bergman who is replacing an injured Ty Johnson (Jr.) in center field, followed with a perfect bunt down the first base line, and right fielder Enzo Apodaca (RJr.) was then hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out. 

Teplanszky, coming off a five-strikeout performance against Abilene Christain, came to the plate and lined a two-run single through the right side to tie the game at two apiece.

“Wednesday night was a really rough one for me,” Teplanszky said. “You find comfort in the guys and everyone is in there supportring you – coaches and players. So to bounce back and get a few big hits in this game [was big].”

In the sixth, Baylor put up a seven-spot and took its first lead in a contest since Feb. 20. Pendergrass got it started with a double down the left field line and Greer, Altman, left fielder Kade Fletcher (Jr.) and Teplanszky all delivered RBI base knocks in the inning. It was the first time since March 19, 2023, against Kansas State that Baylor put up seven or more runs in a frame.

The Bears extended their lead to 11-2 in the eighth when Apodaca crushed a solo homer over the right-center field wall, his second of the season. Pendergrass later scored Teplanszky with an RBI double for Baylor’s fifth extra-base hit of the game.

Right-handed pitcher Patrick Hail (RJr.) closed the door in the final innings with 3.1 shutout frames out of the bullpen.

Final: Baylor 11 - Oral Roberts 2

W: Patrick Hail (1-0) L: Jakob Hall (1-1)

POTG: Mason Marriott (2 R, ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 8 K, 5.2 IP, 25 BF, 96 pitches)

WHAT’S NEXT

Baylor baseball (2-7) will continue its series at 2 p.m. on Saturday against Oral Roberts (4-5). The contest will be streamed on ESPN+.